SECOND AJI CONGRESS: THE CIMANGGIS DECLARATION/W.Java


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"Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI)" <jurnalis@idola.net.id>


PRESS RELEASE - Nov 16, 1997

SECOND AJI CONGRESS

Exactly one year after the detention on Andy Syahputera in the Suara
Independen Magazine case, AJI held it's second National Congress, in
Cimanggis West Java, 25-26 Octo 97, and elected it's new executive board
for 1997-1999. Lukas Luwarso was elected by the Congress as the the new
chairman, Dadang RHS as Secretary, and Roy Pakpahan as treasurer.

The congress was attanded by participants from Jakarta, Bandung,
Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Bandar Lampung, East Timor, and Ujung Pandang. In
addition to the new executive board, the Congress also established two
new bodies: th BPK (Badan Pemeriksa Keunagan, Audit Committee), and a
Council of Ethics. The latter consists of senior journalists, as well as
media experts. The Congress also issued The Cimanggis Declaration, which
sets out its recomendations regarding the state of the media in
Indonesia today.


THE CIMANGGIS DECLARATION

The Second Congress of the Alliance of Indepedent Journalists (AJI),
which was held in Cimanggis, West Java, on 25-26 October 1997, notes
that journalalists and press institutions continue to face various forms
of pressure which directly threaten press freedom in Indonesia. Press
freedom cannot be realized if press workers do not pay due respect to
journalistic ethics and professionalism, which in turn is closly related
to the responsibility of media institutions to fullfill their
responsibility to guarantee satisfactory working conditions for their
employees.

Based on this, the Second AJI Congress:

Calls upon state institutions and society, both individually and
collectively, to respect the rights of journalists and press
institutions to be free to seek and disseminate information.

Calls for the rescinding of Ministerial Decision No.1/1984 concerning
the issuing of Press Publication Licenses (SIUPP), which contravenes
higher legislation.

Expresses it concern about the increasing tendency to use legal
mechanisms such as summation or civil law suits inappropriately. This,
it is feared, will create a climate which wll deny the public's right to
receive information. The right to reply should be used as far as
possible in order to resolve disputes with the press.

Reminds media managements to meet the basic needs of journalists and
their families, and thereby enable journalists to carry out their work
using high standards of professionalism. In the context we remind the
responsible persons in press enterprises to provide their workers with
the right to ownership of 20 percent of shares in such enterprises.

Calls on journalists and press institutions to form a worker council in
order to guarantee respect of press workers council in order to
guarantee respect for the right of press and accommodate the aspirations
of press workers in negotiations with the management.

Once again calls on both civil and military state institutions not to
pressurize press institutions in connection with the news published in
the run up to, and in the course of, the 1998 General Session of the
People's Consultative Council (MPR). At the same time, AJI calls on
journalists and press institutions not to be influenced by any forms of
external pressure placed on them in connection with news and opinion,
and to accommodate society's new aspirations.

Cimanggis, 26 October 1997
 
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